Carpe Diem
by S. A. Arkenburgh
Summary: After being called terrible, Klaus still offers to help Caroline with her Latin homework. Cute Klaroline one-shot.


**A/N: Just another Klaroline one-shot taking place after Caroline completed the third massacre of twelve on accident and called Klaus terrible.**

There she sat, giving out an exasperated sigh as she flung her book through the doorway. She didn't see where it landed, for it skidded on the floor and out of sight.

"Stefan!" Caroline yelled from the couch. Her fingers furiously twirled the pencil in her hand to prevent her from breaking something.

As if on cue, Stefan came bolting through the doorway, phone in hand and anger-driven direction on his face. He didn't even bother to stop or give Caroline a glance as he continued into the other room.

She pushed her book off her lap and onto the couch, stood up, and flung her hands in the air.

"Stefan, you said you'd help me with my homework!" she yelled through the house since Stefan was already gone upstairs.

"Rain check, Caroline," he yelled back. "I've got bigger problems at the moment."

Caroline didn't bother ask what was wrong. A better question is what's _wasn't_ wrong anymore. Jeremy was dead, Tyler was gone, and Elena's gone off the emotionless deep end. The only normal thing she had going for her was the fact that she'd finally gone to school and received a crap ton of make-up homework due to lack of attendance.

Fortunately, due to her speedy _everything_ she'd gotten the reading, writing, and learning done in every subject in just one day.

Well, all but one subject…which Stefan agreed to help her with and backed out of last minute.

Just as another heavy sigh of frustration escaped her mouth, a familiar, but irritating, accent was audible from the doorway.

"Hello, Love," Klaus said calmly.

Caroline didn't want to look, and her inner conflict was occurring.

'_Don't look_.'

'_Don't listen to her, Caroline. Look at him_!'

'_Don't do it_!'

'_You know you want to_!'

She looked.

He was leaning casually against the doorway with her book in his hand.

"What do you want?" she asked venomously.

"Relax, killer," he smirked. "I'm not here for you. My attendance is at Stefan's request, but by that last phone call he received, I'm guessing I'll be here a bit in waiting. Why are _you_ here?"

"This house is one of the very few that doesn't have vervain in the water," she answered, "and I needed a shower."

"Hmm," he pondered. "Thanks, Love, for giving me a wondrous mental image."

"Whatever," she put her hands over her face. "I don't care. Just give me my book."

"Oh, this book?" he asked as he opened it and flipped through the pages. "By the sound of it, you were having trouble. Could that be the reason why it was laying open on the floor?"

"Yes, in fact," she said stubbornly. "I can't do it without help."

"Well, it just so happens that this is Latin," he replied as he closed the book and put it back down at his side.

"Yes, Klaus," she replied. "I can't speak Latin, and I have to do homework on it. It's terrible!"

"Well, Caroline, I can speak Latin," he smirked, "and since you think Latin is terrible and that I'm terrible, maybe I could help you to think "un-terribly" about it."

"About what?" she asked. "You or Latin?"

"Both."

Caroline tried not to see the blush forming under the ivory skin of her cheeks—stupid coffee and caffeine that circulates blood.

"Do you speak every language?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Pretty much," he shrugged. "I'm not the best at the language the Irish speak, but I know the basics. Would you like my help?"

"No, but it looks like I have to have it," she groaned and plopped back down on the couch.

"If you don't want to do it, why not just compel your teacher?" he asked as he sat down beside her and opened the book.

"Because this is the only time I'll ever graduate high school for the first time," she answered. "If you understood what I just said, you'll understand that I want to do it honestly because I'll have eternity to go back to high school and compel my way through yet another graduation."

"Understandable," he nodded in acknowledgement. "Why is this class so important?"

"I only have twenty credits," she said. "I need twenty-one to graduate, and this is the only one I need. It's too late now to switch classes or I would."

"Again, understandable," he replied. "Now, this paper signifies that you have to start on page fifty-three, which is conjugating irregular verb tenses…"

After a good forty-five minutes of getting absolutely nowhere, Caroline groaned.

"I don't even know why people are still using Latin," she commented. "It's a dead language!"

"Dead language for a dead girl," Klaus mumbled under his breath, but Caroline heard him.

"You're one to talk."

"Look on the bright side," Klaus replied. "Your vampire brain will remember everything you learn, and if you become fluent—which you will because it's not hard to learn different languages when you can comprehend and remember absolutely everything—you can understand what Bonnie's saying when she does magic."

She sat up and turned to face him. It was to add more effect to the sarcastic look she was giving him, "Why do you do so much? You have forever to try something new, and I'm pretty sure you do it every single day. If you do everything, you'll be bored for the rest of eternity, so why do it?"

"_Carpe diem_, Love," he answered with a closed-lipped smile.

"_Carpe diem_?" she asked. "What's that supposed to mean? We've already covered the fact that I don't know Latin."

"In English it means 'seize the day'," he replied.

"That means nothing to me," she said. "If I get to take a day, that means I'm taking a _personal_ day…and going to the spa."

Klaus chuckled and shook his head, "No, Caroline—_seize_ the day. I believe it's the equivalent to what your generation refers to as 'YOLO'."

Acknowledgement flooded her eyes, "Oh."

"It's truly impossible to do everything in a lifetime," Klaus began, "and even an eternity since new things and activities are being invented, so I try to do everything, hoping that one day I can say that I didn't waste my existence, but truly did mostly everything there is to do."

"Wow," she said mostly to herself. "That was very deep and…philosophical, Klaus."

He smiled, "I believe that's probably the first time you've said my name without disgust or anger. I wish I could hear it more like that."

Caroline looked down, "I'm sorry for calling you terrible last night, and I must say you're a much bigger person than you lead on to make others believe. If the roles were reversed, I'd probably still be livid with you."

"You'll soon come to learn that centuries of grudges leave a person lethargic," he said.

"Why?"

"You'll remember back to when you were first mad at a person and realize how stupid it is to still hate them for it," he explained. "Time heals all wounds, and if it doesn't, that's _your_ fault—not time's."

Elena and her emotionless state popped into Caroline's mind, but she pushed it back for another time. Instead, something that seemed to be a mix of recognition and shame.

"Don't feel bad, Love," he said. "I am a terrible person. Very few people have known me or lived long enough to see what's underneath."

For some reason, Caroline laughed, shook her head, and then brought it up to meet Klaus in the eyes, "You know, I just killed twelve witches last night, and that's pretty terrible."

"They were going to kill Bonnie, Caroline," he defended her.

She crawled closer to him on the couch, "I've also lied, stolen, and cheated. That, too, is pretty terrible."

Klaus caught on and licked his lips, "Yes, that _is_ pretty terrible."

"I guess we're all pretty terrible people," she smiled.

"There's a strong possibility that you're correct," he answered.

Quickly, before he had time to respond anymore, she kissed him hard on the mouth and pulled away.

Shocked, Klaus asked, "What was that for?"

"_Carpe diem_, right?" she smiled.

"Exactly," he responded as he pushed the book off his lap and took her in his arms for a longer kiss. "_Carpe diem_."

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I'm watching **_**Dead Poet Society**_** in my English class, and if you've seen that, you'll understand this better. Let me know what you think. Much Love!**

**-S. A. Arkenburgh**


End file.
